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73rd U.S. Girls' Junior: Inside the Championship Field
The average age of the 156 U.S. Girls’ Junior competitors is 16.5.
Honorine Nobuta Ferry, 12 years, 4 months, 24 days, of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Karina Jadhav, 12 years, 7 months and 14 days, of Irvine, Calif. are the championship’s youngest competitors.
The championship’s oldest competitor is Morgan Ketchum, of Winston-Salem, N.C. She is 18 years, 11 months and 2 days old as of July 18. There are 46 18-year-olds in the field.
Field breakdown by age:
12: 2 players
13: 2 players
14: 13 players
15: 24 players
16: 25 players
17: 44 players
18: 46 players
There are 14 countries represented in the championship: Australia (1), Canada (13), Chinese Taipei (4), Colombia (3), Germany (1), Hong Kong, China (5), India (1), Japan (3), Mexico (3), New Zealand (2), People’s Republic of China (1), Philippines (1), Singapore (1). and the United States (117).
There are 32 states represented in the championship: Alabama (2), Arizona (2), Arkansas (2), California (24), Colorado (2), Connecticut (1), Florida (10), Georgia (4), Hawaii (3), Idaho (1), Illinois (4), Indiana (2), Kentucky (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (2), Mississippi (1), Nevada (5), New Jersey (7), New Mexico (1), New York (2), North Carolina (6), Ohio (5), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (4), Texas (8), Virginia (2), Washington (3) and Wisconsin (1).
There are two USGA champions in the field: Sara Im, 17, of Duluth, Ga., and Thienna Huynh, 18, of Lilburn, Ga., who teamed to win the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in April in Puerto Rico.
There are two USGA runners-up in the field: Kaitlyn Schroeder, 17, of Jacksonville, Fla. and Bailey Shoemaker, 17, of Dade City, Fla., who lost in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball final.
There are two pairs of sisters in the field: Mia Cepeda, 16, and Ava Cepeda, 14, of Hauula, Hawaii; and Isabella McCauley, 18 and Reese McCauley, 16, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn. Isabella qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open.
Six players are in the top 100 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™ as of July 6:
Players in the field with the most U.S. Girls’ Junior appearances:
There are three current college players in the field:
There are 34 players who have signed national letters of intent with colleges for Fall 2022:
There are 27 players in the field who have competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club:
Seven players in the field competed in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C.:
One player in the field competed in the 2022 Curtis Cup Match at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.:
Sixteen U.S. Girls’ Junior competitors played in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in April at Grand Reserve Golf Club, in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Kynadie Adams; Kaylee Chen; Gianna Clemente; Katie Cranston; Nicole Gal; Kary Hollenbaugh; Thienna Huynh; Sara Im; Mi Li; Bridget Ma; Anna Ritter; Kaitlyn Schroeder; Bailey Shoemaker; Karoline Tuttle; Yana Wilson; Avery Zweig
Kynadie Adams, 15, of Gallatin, Tenn., will be playing in her third U.S. Girls’ Junior and eighth USGA championship. Adams, a two-time Drive, Chip & Putt national finalist, also played in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Her father, Adrian, played college golf at Tennessee State University, where he was teammates and roommates with Sean Foley, Adams’ former swing coach and the instructor for 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose. Earlier this year, she tied for first in an East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour event in Florida, but eschewed the playoff so fledgling professional Therese Warner could get the full first-place check of $10,000. She is a member of The Club at Olde Stone, and will have boyfriend and reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion Nicholas Dunlap on her bag for the early portion of the championship.
Adrian Anderson, 18, of Murrells Inlet, S.C., will be playing in her first USGA championship. In fall 2022, Anderson will attend the University of Charleston, where she will be a pre-med student and major in biology. She says her passion for helping others led her to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor. Anderson is a 2021 Rolex Scholar and was also named the 2021 SCJGA Beth Daniel Player of the Year.
Trinity Beth, 15, of Calvert City, Ky., will be playing in her first USGA championship. She is a two-time Miss Kentucky Golf as the top high school player in the state. In 2022, she finished 10th in the AJGA - KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational, second at the Greenville Future Tour Championship, fifth at the Kathy Whitworth Invitational and sixth at the Spot X Hotel Junior Championship.
Kate Brody, 17, of Grand Blanc, Mich., will be competing in her first USGA championship. Brody comes from a family of golfers. Her parents, Doug and Jennifer, are the PGA & LPGA professionals at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, a former PGA Tour site and host of a PGA Tour Champions event since 2018. Her mother has competed in several USGA championships, including the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open. In her spare time, Kate loves to lift weights, run, and sing. She is planning to attend the University of Wisconsin in the fall of 2023.
Kylee Choi, 15, of Murrieta, Calif., will be competing in her second U.S. Girls’ Junior. Choi, who advanced to match play in the 2021 U.S. Girls' Junior, has already won a pair of professional tournaments in Arizona on the developmental Cactus Tour, including The Wigwam-Heritage at age 14 this past December. In April, she won a Cactus Tour event at Longbow Golf Club. Earlier this year, she shared runner-up honors at the Kathy Whitworth Invitational and was fourth in the Ping Heather Farr Classic, both AJGA events. She also tied for 10th in the 2021 Rolex Girls Junior Championship. Choi also qualified for last month’s U.S. Women’s Open, where she was the youngest player in the field
Mia Cepeda, 16, of Hauula, Hawaii, will be competing in her first USGA championship alongside sister, Ava, who is also playing in her first USGA championship. Cepeda survived a six-hole playoff against two players at her qualifier in Hualalai to secure a spot in the field. Her parents, Karla and Baxter, are both coaches at The First Tee of Hawaii, and she and her sister volunteer at the chapter in their spare time. Cepeda was a 2019 Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist.
Gianna Clemente, 14, of Estero, Fla., will be playing in her fourth USGA championship and first U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Clemente became the third-youngest player (age 11) to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2019 when she competed at Old Waverly. She is a 2022 AJGA Rolex Invitational runner-up, 2022 AJGA Wyndham Cup competitor and 2022 Evian Junior USA Team member. She also finished fourth in the 2022 Sage Valley Junior and shared fourth in the South Atlantic Ladies Amateur (The Sally).
Sammie Dolce, 17, of Florham Park, N.J., will be playing in her second USGA championship and her first U.S. Girls’ Junior. She missed the cut in the 121st U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She is a member of LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, New Jersey First Tee and New Jersey PGA Junior League.
Elizabeth Eberle, 17, of Richmond, Ky., is competing in her first USGA championship. She finished third in the 2022 KYPGA Championship, fourth in the 2021 Kentucky Junior Amateur, was the 2020 Kentucky High School State runner-up and claimed victory in the 2019 Golfweek Junior Tour at Darby Creek. Eberle, a lefty, was taught by her father, Jason Eberle, who has been the head golf professional at Gibson Bay Golf Course since 1997. Her brother, Cooper Eberle, 18, will be serving as her caddie. He has committed to Eastern Michigan University this fall.
Nicole Gal, 17, of Oakville, Canada, will be playing in her first U.S. Girls’ Junior following her USGA debut at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year. Gal was the Canadian Junior Girls Champion in 2021 and the runner-up in the 2021 Canadian Women’s Amateur. She was a Drive, Chip & Putt age-group champion in 2019.
Megha Ganne, 18, of Holmdel, N.J., shared the first-round lead in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club and earned a spot in Sunday’s final pairing before finishing tied for 14th and earning low-amateur honors. In the past year, she won the Scott Robertson Memorial, recorded top-five finishes in the Annika Invitational, Girls Junior PGA Championship and the AJGA Tournament of Champions, in addition to representing the United States in both the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. In November, she officially signed to play college golf at Stanford University. Ganne is a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist and is an active participant in The First Tee of Metropolitan New York. Ganne recently was a member of the victorious 2022 USA Curtis Cup Team, posting a 3-0-0 record in the 11-point victory over Great Britain & Ireland at Merion Golf Club. In 2019, she advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, losing in 19 holes to Albane Valenzuela.
Mia Hammond, 14, of New Albany, Ohio, will be competing in her second U.S. Girls’ Junior. In 2019, Hammond underwent major surgery on both of her knees and was sidelined for 10 months. This upcoming winter, she will need to undergo a second surgery on both knees. She enjoys playing the piano and loves animals.
Thienna Huynh, 18, of Lilburn, Ga., is the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Champion with partner Sara Im. They became the second and third players from the Peach State to win the championship, and she joined Erica Shepherd as one of two left-handed champions of the event. This will be her fifth USGA championship and first U.S. Girls’ Junior. Huynh was named the 2021 Georgia State Golf Association Girls Player of the Year.
Sara Im, 17, of Duluth, Ga., the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion with partner Thienna Huynh, will be playing in her fourth USGA championship and first U.S. Girls’ Junior. Im and Huynh outlasted Kaitlyn Schroeder and Bailey Shoemaker, 1 up, at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico. Im also won the Georgia Women’s Amateur in 2020 in a playoff over Huynh. In 2018, she won the age 12-13 division of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National and tied for fourth the following year in the age 14-15 division.
Kara Kaneshiro, 17, of Honolulu, Hawaii, is playing in her first USGA championship. She was the Hawaii State Women’s Amateur champion in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Kaneshiro was named the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association Player of the Year as well as the Hawaii State Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year.
Kiara Romero, 16, of San Jose, Calif., will be playing in her second U.S. Girls’ Junior and third USGA championship. She owns three top-10 finishes in 2022: the Mariah Stackhouse Girls Invitational (T10), Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club (10th) and Under Armour / Albane Valenzuela Girls Invitational (T4).
Kaitlyn Schroeder, 17, of Jacksonville, Fla., will be playing in her second U.S. Girls’ Junior and fifth USGA championship. The 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior quarterfinalist advanced to the Round of 32 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in 2019 and 2020, and finished as a runner-up in 2022 with partner Bailey Shoemaker, who is also in the field. Her father, Scott, is the head men’s golf coach at North Florida University.
Bailey Shoemaker, 17, of Dade City, Fla., will be playing in her fifth USGA championship and third U.S. Girls’ Junior. She recently won the Kathy Whitworth Invitational and finished runner-up in the Sung Hyun Park Junior Championship, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club and the Dustin Johnson World Junior. In April, she finished as a runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Kaitlyn Schroeder, who is also in the field. She also tied for 49th in last month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
Yana Wilson, 15, of Henderson, Nev., won the 2022 Annika Invitational. Wilson battled with fellow amateur Anna Davis before securing the win with a walk-off eagle from 75 yards out. Davis won this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Wilson lost in the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior to eventual champion Rose Zhang. She also is a two-time Drive, Chip & Putt age-group champion, taking the age 12-13 division in 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Avery Zweig, 14, of McKinney, Texas, will be competing in her eighth USGA championship and third U.S. Girls’ Junior. The three-time Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist also is the youngest qualifier in U.S. Girls' Junior history (11 years, 5 months, 19 days). She also made the cut that year (2018), losing in the Round of 64. A first-team American Junior Golf Association All-American in 2021, Zweig won last year's Annika Invitational for her first AJGA title. Last fall, she competed in the LPGA Tour’s Volunteers of America Classic in Texas, where she missed the cut. She also posted a 1-2-0 record representing the USA in the 2021 Junior Solheim Cup held in Sylvania, Ohio last September.
Amy Morton is an assistant manager of championship communications for the USGA. Email her at amorton@usga.org.
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